ACC MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- Duke
- Virginia
- Louisville
- Miami FL
- North Carolina
- Clemson
- Virginia Tech
- Florida State
- Syracuse
- NC State
- SMU
- Stanford
- Pittsburgh
- California
- Wake Forest
- Notre Dame
- Boston College
- Georgia Tech
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-ACC 1ST TEAM:
-Thijs De Ridder – Virginia
-John Blackwell – Duke (Preseason Player of the Year)
-Patrick Ngongba II – Duke
-Flory Bidunga – Louisville
-Shelton Henderson – Miami FL
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-ACC 2ND TEAM:
-Jackson Shelstad – Louisville
-Dame Sarr – Duke
-Acaden Lewis – Miami FL
-Chance Mallory – Virginia
-Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje – Duke
.
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-Duke was one of the top teams in the nation last year and they barely (and I mean BARELY) missed the Final Four. With three starters back and an influx of talent to replace what is left, Duke is once again the favorite to win the ACC and may be good enough to win the national championship. Duke’s entire starting five received preseason honors, including John Blackwell who transfers in from Wisconsin and is as good a player as anyone in the country. This is a deep and talented team that is good enough to win it all.
-Virginia won 30 games a season ago and finished 15-3 in ACC play before a somewhat early exit from the NCAA Tournament, but this team returns three starters and are once again stacked and will be set up to contend for a protected seed. Ryan Odom had an outstanding first year as coach last year and he has Chance Mallory returning at PG. Mallory and Sam Lewis make up a very strong backcourt. They are also solid in the frontcourt, very good defensively, and have as much depth as they need. Virginia will once again be very good.
-Expectations were sky high for Louisville a year ago and while they had a decent year they fell a little short of what everyone was expecting. Once again their roster has been overhauled, but once again they appear to be stacked with talent. Coach Pat Kelsey has shown he can stockpile a roster from year to year, and this year he has Jackson Shelstad from Oregon and Karter Knox from Arkansas in the backcourt, Alvaro Folgueiras comes in from Iowa, and Flory Bidunga comes in from Kansas. Louisville’s roster is made up of good players who played key roles on good teams. Again.
-Miami FL is one of those teams who, every year, I say is going to exceed expectations. This year the expectations are quite high, so it is hard for me to say that. They had a solid 26-win season a year ago where they made it to the Round of 32, and while two of the better players from that team are gone, Acaden Lewis transferred in from Villanova and will likely be the starting PG after a very solid freshman season last year, and Somto Cyril is a very solid big man who comes in from Georgia. Brent Bland is a grad transfer who put up nice numbers for Saint Peter’s and who can also contribute to what should be a solid frontcourt. I am all-in on the Canes most years, and this year is no different. I think this is a top-25-caliber team again this year.
-Coach Michael Malone takes over at North Carolina and we are all waiting to see how it goes. UNC is one of the most storied programs in all of college basketball, but by their own standards they probably feel they have slipped. Since winning the national championship in 2017, UNC has been past the Sweet Sixteen just once (albeit they made it all the way to the championship game) and the fans are getting restless. It is hard to say just how good they will be this year. I think they will be in the top half of the bracket, but with only one starter back and a first-year head coach, will they be set up to go beyond the Sweet Sixteen? Terrence Brown transfers in from Utah where he was a fantastic PG for the Utes. Neoklis Avdalas was a solid player for Virginia Tech so he is no stranger to the ACC, and they have some other solid players to fill out the roster, so they do have some good pieces.
-After making the Elite Eight in 2024, Clemson has failed to get past the Round of 64 during the past two years, but they have still had two solid seasons and are still a team to be reckoned with. Their main strength is usually defense, and this year should be no different. Coach Brad Brownell is tasked with rebuilding the roster with just one returning starter. Dylan Faulkner was a prolific scorer at Samford a year ago, David Fuchs comes in from San Francisco, and Cole Certa comes in from Notre Dame, so the Tigers have what should be a solid frontcourt and some talented pieces. I like them to…once again…finish safely inside the bubble.
-Virginia Tech is getting a fair amount of love after a so-so 19-13 year last year where they were just under .500 in ACC play. Three starters are back and that experience should help them, and Jaylen Curry also transfers in from Oklahoma State. Ethan Copeland is another player to watch. He put up big numbers for an otherwise very underwhelming Stetson team, but is a very good outside shooter.
-Coach Luke Loucks had a modest debut season at Florida State last year, going 18-15 overall and a respectable 10-8 in league play. This year the Noles have to rebuild their roster after losing all five starters. Sebastian Rancik was a solid player for Colorado last year and they have some highly talented freshmen, but it is hard for me to get any sort of read on what kind of team they will have this year.
-Syracuse has only managed 20 wins in one of their past five seasons. The days of them being a top-level program from year to year seem like it was a long time ago. Gerry McNamara takes over as coach and he has his work cut out for him. No starters return from last year’s team, but they do have some solid transfers coming in. Gavin Doty was a fantastic player for Siena last year, and Frances Folefac also comes over. Aiden Tobiason was a strong player for Temple last year, so the Orange have some pieces, but the ACC is a much higher level than where a lot of these guys are coming from.
-NC State really did get the full Will Wade experience. He was there, he was brief, he left, and he did not clean up after himself!! Justin Gainey takes over as coach and with just one starter back there seems to be a lot of uncertainty around the team. A trio of very solid transfers join the roster as Darius Adams comes in from Maryland, Preston Edmead from a solid Hofstra team, and Christian Hammond from a very good Santa Clara team, so the cupboard is not bare. It is a transfer-heavy roster with some really formidable pieces and if the team can mesh together they could exceed expectations.
-Coach Andy Enfield got SMU to the NCAA Tournament last year (albeit barely), but with all five starters gone he is tasked with a rebuilding season. It is a transfer-heavy roster with no standout stars, but of guys who were pretty solid players. I never want to overlook an Enfield coached team, but I get the sense it may be a long year for the Mustangs.
-Stanford struggled through much of last season, but down the stretch they were playing really well. They won their final four regular season games before barely losing in their first ACC Tournament game. Unfortunately just one starter is back for Coach Kyle Smith’s squad and they do not have much in the way of experience with a lot of younger players.
-Pittsburgh, like a lot of teams in their situation, had nearly all their key players abandon ship after a rough season and Coach Jeff Capel is having to rebuild the roster. Naithan George comes over from Syracuse, which was another ACC team that struggled last year. Baye Ndongo was a solid rebounder for Georgia Tech last year…but that was a team that struggled even more than Pitt did! They seem to be made up of key players from struggling teams. Having said that, A’lahn Sumler was a big-time player for Charleston Southern last year and is a player to watch this year.
-California had a surprisingly good year last year and for a while seemed to be within reach of the bubble: 22 total wins and a 9-9 record in ACC play was fairly solid. They face the same issue that a lot of teams are facing, which is that they retained very few of their key players. Just one starter is back and they do not appear to have any standout players on their roster. It could be a long year for the Bears.
-Wake Forest struggled last year and their entire roster jumped ship. That is starting to become the theme of the entire bottom of the conference. The Deacs landed Kevair Kennedy, who was a terrific player for Merrimack last year, but no one else seems to have much in the way of solid and proven D-1 experience. It could be another frustrating year for the Deacs.
-Notre Dame has had four straight bad years of basketball, and appears to be set up for a fifth straight. They were just 13-18 overall and were a very underwhelming 4-14 in ACC play, which was not good enough to put them in the ACC Tournament. Logan Duncomb was a great player for Winthrop last year and pulling him out of the portal was a big get, and Ethan Roberts was a solid player for Penn. As good as those two players were, and as capable as they are of playing against ACC-level competition, they cannot do it all themselves and there just does not appear to be much else around them. Just how warm is Coach Micah Shrewsberry’s seat getting?
-Coach Luke Murray takes over at Boston College, and it is not hyperbole to say that it is one of the toughest jobs in all of D-1. Very rarely are they good, and they are in a conference of heavyweights. All five starters are gone, but a fresh start may be what BC needs. Money Williams was a fantastic player for Montana a year ago and he has transferred in. Ernest Shelton had a big year at Merrimack, and the roster is made up of guys who put up very nice numbers at Under the Radar programs. Can they come together and compete in the Big East?? Well, the preseason voters do not think so, but I think they can do a little better than 17th.
-Georgia Tech finished in last place last year and is picked to do the same again this year. Scott Cross is a very good coach and he takes over, but holy cow does he have his work cut out for him!! Victor Valdes comes over from Troy and Colby Garland was a big time scorer for San Jose State, so they have a few individuals that can play, but it will be difficult to compete with the talent that the teams in the middle of the league, let alone the top of it.
